What Is $100 Dollars Worth To You?

If your cable company offered you $100 bucks to “lock in” the current rates for your bundled landline, TV and Internet services for two years, would you take it?

I guess the answer would depend largely on your financial situation more than a cost-benefit analysis. But let’s say arguendo that your monthly bill for all three services was averaging approximately $155.00 bucks and change or thereabouts, and the cable company’s rep just advised you that they were raising the price of your landline again to an extra $3 bucks per month just because.  ($3.00 x 24 months = $72.00)

Not a bad deal, right? Sure. As long as say another competitor wasn’t rolling out en masse the same three services plus others for significantly less jack per month. But assuming that there is another provider in the same market, and that provider still hasn’t gotten its act together to roll out quality service, well then you may not feel so bad about selling out for a measly $100 bucks.

At least I don’t. Nor do I anticipate a sense of buyer’s remorse.

You see, the other provider in my locale is none other than AT&T.  It began rolling out U-verse service to a few select (cherry picked) areas in this part of the country in 2007 based on which city would give them a sweetheart deal.   Traditionally, this isn’t an AT&T market, but through the magic of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, areas of the country previously verboten to certain TELCOs are now fair game.  Thanks to a coin-operated Congress, American consumers are still paying the highest rates for the slowest and shittiest quality of communications services, but I digress.

Suffice it to say, U-verse has finally become available (sort of) but coverage for this particular area is spotty, at best.  Case in point >> My neighbors 20 FT across the way can get U-verse, but during this time, I cannot.  AT&T is unwilling and/or unable to announce when or if their service will ever even be available. (Jerk customers around much?)

And the service is shitty problematic.

And AT&T is the reanimated Ma Bell Deathstar company responsible for wiretapping our phone conversations arbitrarily and turning them all over to the NSA without a court warrant during the Bush II junta.

And I should be getting paid by the cable company for giving them a PR plug (Which is why I haven’t disclosed the name.)

You know something?  I’m starting to feel even better about my decision because once the check arrives,  it’s going to help pay for my one and only vice. It’s rather lonely being the only east coast ice hockey fan in So Cal, but Center Ice more than makes up for it.

I suppose I should maybe be grateful to the cable company for the money, but I think I’ll pass.  Not only do I have to wait 45 days for the money, but as a customer for the past 11 years, those thieves owe me a hell of a lot more than $100 bucks.

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